“Many critics feel that [these operas] glorify the repugnant behavior and patriarchal values they depict — and question their place in the repertoire”, writes Frankfurt-based violinist Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch. Not surprisingly, for those who know the operas, Rauch makes the case that Mozart is solidly on the side of his female characters, but her argument and analysis are good. (Unfortunately, she doesn’t address Così fan tutte, which is a trickier case.) — Slate
Blog
Despite Gov’t Shutdown, NEA And NEH Reopen
“The agencies, which the Trump administration’s first two budgets tried to eliminate, will use remaining FY18 administrative funds to reopen [on Monday] for up to four weeks, officials said. The agencies hope to ‘minimize any interruption in the awarding of federal funds,’ according to the NEH website.” — The Washington Post
At Manhattan’s New Museum, Workers Vote To Unionize
Associate curators, art handlers, and staff at the front desk, gift shop, and museum bookstore will now be represented by the United Auto Workers. The vote was 38 to 8. — The New York Times
Long-Stalled Plans For New Vancouver Art Gallery Back On Track With $40M Gift; Herzog And De Meuron Design Revealed
The project for a new building for the museum, first launched in 2008, has been revived from the Chan family, prominent Vancouver philanthropists who gave the anchor donation for what’s now the Chan Center for the Performing Arts. This new gift is the largest private one for arts and culture in the history of British Columbia. At the announcement, updated designs by Herzog & de Meuron were presented, showing a building clad in vertical glass logs and wood. — Vancouver Sun
London’s West End Sees Record Attendance, Revenue In 2018 (Thank ‘Hamilton’)
“West End theatres enjoyed record box office takings of £766 million in 2018, up 8.6% compared with the previous year. … West End theatres also had record audience attendances of 15.5 million, up 3%. However, while audiences for musicals were up, attendance for West End plays dropped by 6.5%.” — The Stage
Ranks Of Women Conductors Grow As BBC Symphony Hires Dalia Stasevska For Principal Guest Post
Stasevska, a 33-year-old Kiev-born Finn who picked up her baton professionally only four years ago, was introduced to the orchestra by its Chief Conductor, fellow Finn Sakari Oramo. — The Guardian
Producers Try Out French-Language Mega-Musical In West End, Using With Opera-Style Surtitles
“The musical Notre Dame de Paris” — aka “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” — has been a hit around the world since it opened in France in 1998. But, in London two years later, the critics savaged the English-language version. Now, a producer is taking the bold step of bringing it back to London — but in the original French. The secret, he says, is in the surtitles.” — BBC
Mellon Foundation Gives $1.25M To Increase Diversity In Academic Publishing
“The [four-year] program offers apprenticeships in acquisitions departments at six university presses: the University of Washington Press, the MIT Press, Cornell University Press, the Ohio State University Press, University of Chicago Press, and Northwestern University Press. The grant will provide for three annual cycles of editorial fellows at those presses.” — Publishers Weekly
The ‘Emergency Poet’ Is Opening A Poetry Pharmacy
“[Deborah] Alma, who as the ‘Emergency Poet’ has prescribed poems as cures from the back of a 1970s ambulance for the last six years, is now setting up a permanent outlet in a shop at Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire. … Together with her partner, the TS Eliot prize-shortlisted poet James Sheard, Alma is preparing to turn [the shop] into a haven ‘to help ease a variety of maladies with the soothing therapy of Poetry’.” — The Guardian
Netflix Is Dribbling Out Viewer Numbers. Traditional Hollywood Is Pissed
As Netflix continues to grow, this game of peekaboo has become increasingly irksome to other studios as well as talent agencies, some of which feel that Netflix’s lack of transparency gives it an unfair competitive advantage. – Los Angeles Times